Initiatives
In any given fiscal year, we may be working on a number of current initiatives related to early education and services to families of children birth-5 in addition to our mandated scope of work as a Smart Start Partnership.
Our initiatives help us meet the unique needs of the early childhood community—providers and families—in Randolph County. These are typically not ongoing projects, but rather pilot or short-term initiatives that were developed to build capacity and increase quality in early education. Funding for a specific initiative may last months or up to several years. Some are not funded.
Infant-Toddler TA Pilot Project
We were selected in early 2019 as one of three agencies in North Carolina to implement the Infant & Toddler Technical Assistance Model Pilot Project. This project serves to create a transformative new coaching and mentoring model of technical assistance to enhance the quality of infant and toddler experiences in early child care and education settings.
The project includes 3 years of funding (renewed annually). Two infant-toddler specialist were hired for this initiative. They will work with eight infant and toddler classrooms (cohort 1) in their first year. In the second year, they will recruit eight additional infant and toddler classrooms (cohort 2).
Participating classrooms will receive comprehensive support and enrichment materials.
Randolph ChAMPS
We were selected as one of four agencies in North Carolina to participate in the 18-month (April 2018-October 2019) KidsReadyNC initiative provided through the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State University.
The project brought together community partners to plan and address early education in the birth-3 space in an effort to ultimately positively impact grade-3 reading proficiency in Randolph County. The collaborative group continues to work as Randolph ChAMPS to implement the initial plan created through the KidsReadyNC project, address current issues and concerns in the birth-3 space, and oversee the work of its implementation team, Randolph County’s Family Engagement and Leadership Coalition.
Randolph ChAMPSShapeNC
This is a multi-phase health and wellness initiative in which the Partnership provides support to child care centers to create or enhance outdoor learning environments and incorporate physical activity and fresh, often locally-sourced, foods into the center’s plans and programs.
Each phase provides support to three cohorts of centers over a three-year period. Our Partnership is in the midst of phase three, thereby touching nearly all centers in the county. The program also includes a Family Coalition component.
ShapeNCStrengthening Statewide Family Engagement and Leadership
We were one of ten organizations in North Carolina selected in March 2019 to participate in this planning initiative.
In addition to serving on a State Coalition to create and pilot a statewide framework for family engagement and leadership, this project supports a local coalition of parents and community organizations to help guide the process.
Our local coalition also works to implement Randolph KidsReadyNC goals related to family engagement and leadership.
Contact
Lisa Hayworth
Executive Director
lhayworth at randolphkids dot org
Ext. 110
